Method of forming friction film on hand



United States Patent No Drawing. Filed Mar. 19, 1958, Ser. No. 722,367 Claims. (Cl. 16792) This invention relates to a new composition prepared in form for use as a friction agent and in particular for use as a friction agent to be applied to the hands of athletes, and the like, who handle the tools of their activities and require that the grip be sure.

The rosin bag is a traditional piece of equipment generally seen at the pitchers mound in a ball game so that the pitcher may dust his hand occasionally to make more certain of his grip on the ball. Similarly, tennis players seem to require a light application of powdered rosin to the hands to aid in making more certain of their grip. Golf players are quite meticulous about the club, stroke and other aspects of the game and in view of the fact that the nature of the stroke has much to do with the accuracy of placing the ball, a sure grip on the golf club is of fundamental importance to the game, and, accordingly, rosin has been a traditional material for use by golfers. The fundamental disadvantages of rosin or heavy metal soaps and other ingredients of that character which have found some use in the several applications mentioned, is their lack of permanence and relatively poor effectiveness. The bare hands of the athlete by perspiring seem to dislodge the rosin dust with the result that frequent renewal of the dusting must take place, and the friction effect of a fresh application of rosin is much less than that of the new compositions herein described.

It is, accordingly, a fundamental object of this invention to provide new compositions in both powdered and liquid forms suitable for use in dusting or coating the hands and like surfaces to form friction films, which materials will be characterized by their efficiency in forming friction films on the surface of the hands, and which will be of a degree of durability such that they can last for several hours during use in athletic events, and in their fundamental etfect, are far superior to rosin.

It is another object of the invention to provide a friction film for application to surfaces which friction film will be waterproof and have a degree of permanence such that it cannot be Washed ofi? from the hands in an ordinary washing operation.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will in part be obvious and in part appear hereinafter.

This invention, accordingly, is involved in a novel composition consisting essentially of highly chlorinated paraffin, in finely divided form, suitable for use as a dusting powder or in a liquid suspension or solution suitable for use as a lotion, for application to the hands and like surfaces for the formation thereon of a friction film layer, which will improve the ability of the hand to grip a tool.

Parafiin is a fully saturated hydrocarbon generally considered to be a mixture of molecules having from about 18 to about 22 carbon atoms in the chain and the physical form of the parafiin may include soft varities, such as microcrystalline waxes. In other words, the starting material for the preparation of the composition need correspond only chemically to the requirement that it be a quite heavy hydrocarbon of the order of 1824 carbon atoms in size. I have found that when such a molecule is chlorinated to at least about 60 percent and preferably to 70' percent or more by weight of chlorine, it is converted to a solid which can be reduced to an extremely finely divided powder form, which powder is completely insoluble in water, tasteless, odorless, and

may be made completely free of hydrochloric acid. A specific preferred form of the chlorinated parafiin for use in preparing compositions in accordance with this invention is the chlorinated parafiin having the following specification.

Chlorine content 6970 percent, preferred; 60-

theoretic-a1 limit useful.

Color:

Solid Gardner 1933 Std. 6-7. Powder Light cream or oif White.

Melting point (ball and ring method) Specific gravity (solid) Density (solid) Density (apparent, of

95-100 C. 1.7. 14 pounds per gallon.

powder) 55 pounds per cubic foot. Particle size 98 percent through 50 mesh. Solubility Soluble to vary extent in aliphatic and aromatic solvents to give clear solutions with no residue. Water solubility None. Taste None.

Odor None. Free acid (HCl) None.

Parts I. Chlorinated parafiin, 69-70 percent chlorine Diatomaceous earth 25 II. Chlorinated parafiin 50 Diatomaceous earth"--- 40 Magnesium oxide 5 Zinc stearate 5 III. Chlorinated paraffin Colloidal silica gel 10 IV. Chlorinated paraflin, finely divided (50 mesh) 100 V. Chlorinated parafiin 50 Rosin 50 VI. Chlorinated parafiin, finely divided 50 Water 49.4 Dispersing agent (Monoperse A, a lecithin)" .6

VII. Chlorinated paraifinfnu. 20 Solvent methyl ethyl ketone 80 VIII. Chlorinated par-aflin 3s Solvent methyl ethyl ketone 15 Emulsifier 5 Water 45 VIII. (a) The formula of Example VIII may be modified as follows: Chlorinated parafiin 30 Solvent (methyl ethyl ketone) 15 T-riethanolamine 3 Oleic acid 7 Water 45 Actually, variations from these vent, there being as much as 80-90 percent in some cases.

In formulating the dry compositions, all ingredients are carefully mixed in the above dry state, care being taken to see that the state of subdivision is at least 50 mesh. In formulating a liquid such as VI, a relatively coarsely ground, highly chlorinated parafiin may be milled with water in the presence of a small amount of a dispersing agent, such as a lecithin until a smooth dispersion results.

Where desired the aqueous dispersion like VI may be prepared with smaller amounts of water and dried ,to form a chalk-like cake, which when rubbed on the hands forms a chalk-like film, which virtually immediately forms the friction coating. v

The solution of VII is formed by simple dissolving of the chlorinated panafiin resin in an appropriate solvent, methyl ethyl ketone being typical.

The emulsion of VIII is formed by first forming the solution of chlorinated parafiin in solvent, such as petroleum ether, ligroin, benzene, toluene, etc., and adding to this the emulsifier. To the hydrocarbon solution, water is added with stirring slowly at first. When the initial emulsion of water in hydrocarbon inverts to an emulsion of hydrocarbon in water, the mixture being rapidly diluted to the desired strength.

A wide variety of ionic, anionic, cationic, and nonionic emulsifiers and couplers are available which may be used to disperse, emulsify or couple solutions of chlorinated paraflin and solvents with water.

In preparing ,dry compositions, attention should be given to maintaining the chlorinated paraffin in free flowing condition, because the usefulness of the material is dependent upon the users being able to dust a small quantity onto the hand, or area, to have the film form on it. In general, an inert carrier may be mixed with the chlorinated panaflin as an extender to assist in giving it free flowing qualifies or at least preserving them as well as to give bulk to the desired useful extent. {Typical extenders may be noted to be diatomaceous earth, a useful variety being that sold under the trade name Microcel; colloidal silica gel, in the fluffy dry form; or magnesium oxide in anhydrous form; zinc oxide in anhydrous form; as well as anhydrous powdersof heavy metal soaps, such as zinc stearate, which has certain antiseptic values.

Q'Ihe' fundamental ingredient'in the composition is the chlorinated parafiin and preferably the chlorine content of the par-afiin'should be about 69 to 70 percent, although paratfins having as little as 60 percent chlorine are solid and subject to being prepared in the requisite finely divided form tomake them useful for the purpose; The chlorinated parafi'lnifi the composition should be at least about 50 percent and where it has been prepared in an anhydrouscondition and finely divided (a characteristic preparation shows 98 percent will pass a 50 mesh sieve) the chlorinated paratfin may be used as1suchwithout an extender give the maximum anti-slip etfect.

The carrier, inaddition to totally inert fillen may in-i clude a smaller proportion of such compounds as zinc oxideor magnesium oxide for their antiseptic value.

Essentially, it is to be noted from the examples, however, that the composition is characterized by its'containing a large proportion of chlorinated paraflin.

The effectiveness of the;composition when applied to the hands is quite unusual in that it has an apparent afiinity for the skin which is unexpected. Actually the melting point of the solid chlorinated parafiin is of the order of 70-100 C. so that its action in forming the waterproof friction film on the skin is quite surprising, because it cannot be attributed to the melting of the compound by body heat. A reasonable mechanism for the action of the chlorinated paraffin ion the hands would be to postulate the presence of some minor amounts of less highly chlorinated paraflin, hence of lower melting point, in the fully chlorinated product so that when the finely divided powder or chlorinated-parafiin containing lotion is rubbed over the hands, the less highly chlorinated material softens and induces the adhesion of the highly chlorinated product to the skin. This is a reasonable mechanism in that when the material is rubbed over the surface of the hands, the full friction eifect is not evident immediately. In the use of the liquid compositions, the

' solvents and diluents must be given time to evaporate.

That is, it takes a short time after application (less than a minute) to develop the full friction effect.

In use by golfers, tennis players, and baseball players, it has been found that the single dusting or coating of the hands thoroughly rubbed onto the surface at the commencement of a contest or a match, has provided the user with a more than adequate friction treatment of the hands to last through the entire contest, and indeed will even continue to be effective after the hands are washed with soap and water.

Though the invention has been described with reference to only a limited number of examples, it is to be understood that variants thereof may be practiced without departing from its spirit or scope.

What is claimed is:

1. A method of forming an adherent friction film on a human hand'which cannot be readily removed by washing comprising applying to said hand a composition comprising a chlorinated parafiin containing at least approximately of chemically combined chlorine.

2. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein said parafiin contains 18 to 22 carbon atoms.

3. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein said parafiin contains at least approximately of chemically combined chlorine.

4. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein said composition is in the form of a finely divided powder.

5. A method as defined in claim 4 additionally comprising sufiicient dry colloidal silica to increase the ability of the composition to flow freely.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,640,366 Knuth June 7, 1953 2,819,681 Luvisi Jan. 14, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 257,406 Switzerland Mar. 16, 1949 OTHER REFERENCES Warth: The Chemistry and Technology of Waxes, pub. 1956, by Reinhold (pp. 450-451).

Condensed Chemical Dictionary, 4th ed., pub. 1950, Reinhold (p. 286). 

1. A METHOD OF FORMING AN ADHERENT FRICTION FILM ON A HUMAN HAND WHICH CANNOT BE READILY REMOVED BY WASHING COMPRISING APPLYING TO SAID HAND A COMPOSITION COMPRISING A CHLORINATED PARAFFIN CONTAINING AT LEAST APPROXIMATELY 60% OF CHEMICALLY COMBINED CHLORINE. 